The game's afoot — again! Public workshop performances of the new Sherlock Holmes musical, Holmes!, will be presented as part of PlayFest: The Orlando Festival of New Plays, Nov. 1-4 in Florida.

The show by composer Hans Vollrath and lyricist-librettist Brett Nicholson draws on the characters of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, including master detective Holmes, sidekick Dr. Watson and nemesis Prof. Moriarty. The musical has been in development over the past several years and has been seen in readings in Florida and New York.

"We've been at work on the most extensive revisions of the show in its history, including seven new songs and some surprises in the story," Nicholson said. "Following each performance, there will be a talkback session with the writers and cast. We've taken most of the past year to get down to the foundation of the show, to make some changes we've really been wanting to make. The spine of the story is intact, but there are a lot of new things going on."